Unlost
by Raberba girl
Summary: Kenshin, Tomoe, Enishi, & Kenji in various situations. Mostly AU.
1. Tired

Unlost

A Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl

Summary: For the "100_situations" community on LiveJournal. Series of drabbles and one-shots focusing on Kenshin, Tomoe, Enishi, & Kenji in various combinations (obviously platonic except sometimes for Kenshin/Tomoe). Includes AUs.

Introduction: Once Axel & Saïx from Kingdom Hearts got me doing drabble challenges, suddenly there was an explosion of plot bunnies for one-shot series in other fandoms. Rurouni Kenshin is very close to my heart, so it's the series I thought of first when I considered branching out of Kingdom Hearts. In thinking over subject matter, I do eventually want to do a Kenshin/Tomoe series because they are close to being an OTP for me and have definitely been shortchanged in my writing. Ultimately, however, I found it more interesting to add Enishi & Kenji to the mix, so that I'd get to write about those four characters either all together or individually or in pairs or trios. Romance is just not my thing. ^^;

I had a hard time thinking of a title. I finally figured that so many things that were lost in canon will not be lost here: Tomoe's life, her relationship with Enishi, Kenshin & Enishi's relationship as brothers, Kenji's respect for his father (I know it's more of a throwaway joke in canon, but it's usually a lot more dramatic in my headcanon), etc.

I've been writing so much for Kingdom Hearts... My obsession with those stupid games is still not showing any sign of stopping, but I feel really bad. I wouldn't care if I never wrote for any other series again (though I do of course want to finish _Bred for Destiny_ and _Searching for the Sun Lands_), but RuroKen is an exception. RK is still my favorite manga series ever (and Kenshin remains my favorite character), and I want to still be able to write for it even when I'm in other phases. Therefore I have a goal, which I doubt I'll be able to stick to, but ideally I will not in the future update with anything Kingdom Hearts unless I also have an RK drabble to update with as well. It'll probably be quite a while before I'm able to return to work on _The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin and Kaoru_ (which I haven't given up on, btw), but a series of one-shots is a lot easier to keep up with. (Ftr, I _do_ have a few plot bunnies for fanfics from series that are not KH or RK, but KH is still where all my creative energies are flowing.)

This is my first challenge series for LiveJournal, by the way - all my previous ones have been for FFN. Hopefully I'm not getting anything wrong...

Title: Tired

Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin

Characters: Kenshin, Tomoe, Enishi, & Kenji

Table: One

Prompt: 001. Tired

Word Count: 653

Rating: G

Warning (if applicable): Reference to another character's offscreen death

Summary: On the run, Kenshin, Tomoe, Enishi, and Kenji are forced to stop for the night.

Author's Notes: AU that's difficult to describe - it's like the sort young adult fantasy novels are usually set in, just without the fantasy.

**ROUGH DRAFT**

Still deep in enemy territory, they were nevertheless forced to stop for the night and rest. Not that they were making much progress anyway, struggling through the pitch-dark with nothing but a torch for light.

"We can't _afford_ to stop!" Enishi insisted. Since reuniting with his sister, there had been a soft joy in his expression that Kenshin had never expected to see from him, but now anxiety and frustration were putting the edge back into his voice.

"We must, Enishi," Tomoe said quietly, trying to heft Kenji into a more comfortable grip. "The child is tired."

"You're carrying him, he'll be fine."

"_Tomoe_ is tired, too," Kenshin clarified in exasperation. He didn't like admitting it in front of this wild young soldier who had so recently been his enemy, but, "We all are."

"_I'm_ not," Enishi said smugly.

"You haven't slept in two days, of course you're tired," Tomoe said shortly.

"I'm not! I'm too _happy_ to be tired! Now that I've got you _back_." He tried to hug her, and ended up waking Kenji, who fussed for a minute and then began to wail.

"Give him to me," Kenshin said wearily, reaching out to take his son. "Hush, Kenji, it will be all right..."

"Want Mama!" Kenji sobbed angrily.

The adults fell silent, and Enishi fidgeted awkwardly.

"She's waiting for us," Kenshin finally whispered, barely able to speak. "She's watching over us, and someday we'll be able to see her again..."

"Enishi," Tomoe finally said. "I know we're still in danger, but we cannot go on for now. Please? I trust you to keep us safe."

He grinned. "I'll protect you with my life, Tomoe. I'll _never_ let anything bad happen to you, ever again."

She was just too tired to deal with this right now... "Thank you, dear." She had some trouble finding a place to lie down in the dark, though it helped that her brother instantly gave up his uniform jacket for her to sleep on. The child had settled down by now, and Kenshin carefully laid him down beside her. Kenji snuggled into her, making her grateful for his warmth and presence.

"Shall I take first watch?" Kenshin murmured hesitantly. He didn't want to let his guard down at all, but he did desperately need at least an hour or two of sleep, and this might be his only chance for quite a while. Enishi had no reason to harm the boy, and he wouldn't try anything anyway with Tomoe having grown attached to Kenji...right?

"I can handle the whole night," Enishi said confidently. "Go ahead and crash, you pansy."

Kenshin closed his eyes briefly. As an enemy, Enishi had been wild and fiery, a little harder to predict than usual. As an ally, he was turning out to be rash and childish- Almost as if he was behaving like the child he had been when he had lost his sister, come to think of it. "You should get some sleep as well. There won't be a better opportunity until we've crossed the border."

"I _told_ you, I can handle it."

"Enishi, it's so dark, I'm frightened," Tomoe called placidly. "Please come keep me company?"

A tiny smile crossed Kenshin's face as he watched Enishi bound over to his sister and happily curl up beside her. "Don't worry, Tomoe, I'm right here."

"I know you are," she murmured sleepily, slipping her fingers through his hair and holding his head against her shoulder. "Thank you." She began to sing softly.

Very soon, Kenshin sensed the three of them growing still. He leaned back and gazed up at the stars. "Kaoru, I didn't know what to tell him." So much desperation to save his wife, so many battles to retrieve her from her captors, and then she had gone and willingly laid down her life for her son's sake. "This isn't...what I wanted...this isn't how it should have been..."

o.o.o

Author's Notes: Exposition fail. I was imagining it as this country under tyrannical rule; Kenshin has to rescue his wife and son, but Kaoru is killed in order to give Kenji and/or Kenshin a chance to escape. Kenshin also somehow ends up rescuing Tomoe from...something. Which hopefully isn't the Emperor's harem, but that's what I keep thinking of. *sweatdrop* Enishi's a soldier for this country who immediately turns traitor when he discovers where his sister's been all this time. The group is trying to travel out of the country to get Tomoe and Kenji to safety (I don't know how long the journey takes), but I originally thought that Kenshin and Enishi would then return to the capital to overthrow the evil overlord. Maybe.

Heh. I realized that I write Enishi/Tomoe almost exactly the way I write Vanitas/Xion. Man, I need to publish a VaniShi already...

Complete: 1/100


	2. Back Alley

_**Unlost**_**, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl**

Title: Back Alley

Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin

Characters: Kenshin, Tomoe, Enishi, & Kenji

Table: One

Prompt: 002. Back Alley

Word Count: 1,280

Rating: I'm gonna say PG-13, just to be safe.

Warning (if applicable): Teenager considers playing hooky from school and then irresponsibly runs into the street; mild swearing; prejudice; mild violence; one character's dialogue has some unintentionally pedoish connotations

Summary: Maybe Kenji will think twice about jumping in front of oncoming traffic next time.

**Author's Notes: Inspired by (some scenes ripped straight from) the Studio Ghibli film **_**The Cat Returns**_**. Modern fantasy AU.**

**ROUGH DRAFT**

It certainly was not easy being a single father, but at least other single parents never had to deal with talking cats invading their kitchen. "Oro!" Kenshin yelped, dropping his briefcase in surprise.

"Please, Himura-san, there's no time," the cat begged, standing up on her hind legs as effortlessly as if she was designed to be bipedal. "I know this must seem very strange to you, and I apologize for the intrusion and for the trouble this must be causing you, but _please_. The longer your son remains in custody, the more concerned I grow for his safety-"

Kenshin's eyes narrowed. "Kenji's in danger?"

"Several fates for him are possible in my land, but I'm fairly sure that neither you nor he will be happy with any of them."

Kenshin nodded, reaching to grasp a bokutô. "We'll go now, then, and you can explain to me on the way- Um..."

"Tomoe," she offered, dropping back down to all fours and trotting for the door.

"Tomoe-san. This one cannot even begin to express his gratitude."

"I am simply repaying the life debt I owe to Himura Kenji-san," the cat said, stiffly enough that Kenshin smiled.

"And that is all there is to it, is there...?"

Earlier, on the way to school that morning:

Kenji was waiting for the light to change, idly wondering if he could get away with playing hooky again, when he noticed the cat. "What the...?"

She was trotting along the sidewalk with a package dangling from her mouth as naturally as if she was just another (really short) pedestrian.

"It's a delivery cat!" Kenji laughed in astonished amusement. "So much for never being able to train a cat." He watched interestedly, not noticing the light, as she actually _looked both ways_ and then began to cross the street. "I want one," he breathed, only half-jokingly.

She dropped the package.

Kenji didn't notice the sudden painful tightening of his own grip, he was too riveted.

The cat struggled to retrieve her package from where it had fallen in the middle of the road, but she was having trouble picking up the ribbons she had been carrying it by.

This time Kenji did notice the light changing. "Hey-"

Traffic began moving again.

"Hey!"

She finally resumed her grip on the thing and took a few more steps toward the other side of the road, but it was too late.

Kenji flung himself across the street, the sound of screeching tires ringing in his ears as he seized the cat in his arms. Then they were crashing into an ornamental shrub growing on the sidewalk outside a shop, where Kenji lay dazed for a moment. He frowned, experimentally knocked his heel against the pavement, and realized that he'd lost a shoe. "Dang it." He sat up and lost his breath again when he saw the cat _standing on her hind legs_, brushing herself off like there was absolutely nothing extraordinary about this display. "Holy...flaming..."

Their eyes met. Kenji was frozen for a second, lost in the mesmerizing beauty of her gaze.

Then she bowed in thanks - _bowed_ - and retrieved her package again.

"Wait-"

She broke into a graceful run.

"Hold on!" Kenji snatched up his shoe from the curb and jammed his foot into it, then took off, hissing in pain when he found himself limping. "Stupid car..."

He managed to find his gait soon enough, just in time to avoid losing the cat entirely. He followed her down the sidewalk, abruptly cut into a back alley, scaled the fence at the end of it, and nearly lost her again. "_Wait_! Please!"

She paused. Just for a moment. Glanced back at him with an odd (and very human) look, half-compassionate and half-frightened. Then she took off again, faster than before.

"WAIT!" Kenji barreled after her, heedless of the yards he was cutting across in this quiet neighborhood. Down the street, nearly tripped over a bicycle, narrow overgrown path between two houses, down a set of cracked steps, sharp turn to the left, holy CRAP what the-?

Kenji tried to stop, but the incline was steep and he ended up falling flat on his face. Didn't stay like that for long because gravity and momentum and some weird third pulling sensation had conspired together and he was tumbling toward the shimmery cloud the cat had disappeared into- "Aaaahhhh...!"

o.o.o

Kenji opened his eyes and had approximately one second to be in awe of the gorgeous blue sky and beautifully turreted towers stretching up to it before the pain set in. "Urgh..." Wincing, he gingerly rolled to his hands and knees. "I'm an idiot." He was also surrounded, as he discovered upon getting to his feet. "Whoa!"

The cats, nervously keeping their distance, backed away even more, but their expressions of fear and anxiety were hardening.

"What is it, Mama?" a tabby kitten asked curiously.

"It's a monster," the mother cat snapped. "Stay away from it."

"Are you talking about _me_?" Kenji exclaimed indignantly. They all flinched at the sound of his voice, but then their stares settled into full-blown glares. "Who _are_ you people?" He couldn't help calling them people. They all wore clothes and some carried bags or baskets - around them was a bustling city, with buildings and vehicles and citizens all about their business, the only difference being that everyone was feline instead of human. And all of them were his size - most taller than him, actually. "Look, I...I think I may have made a mistake, I-"

"The Guard approaches," someone warned, and the crowd of hostile gawkers abruptly scattered.

Kenji frowned after them. "Hey-" Then he gasped as he was knocked down from behind.

"Got you," someone snarled gleefully in his ear.

Kenji struggled to turn over. He managed it in the end, though it meant that the giant cat was pinning him with one paw on his left arm and another pressed hard into his stomach, both tipped with not-entirely-sheathed claws.

"Get off," Kenji gasped, finding it hard to speak with those curved blades so close to drawing blood.

"Trespasser," the cat hissed almost happily. "Monster. I'm taking you in." The cat was pure white and almost luxuriously fluffy - and also wearing glasses and dressed in a crisp uniform - yet it somehow managed to be the most dangerous thing Kenji had ever seen.

"No, wait," he gasped desperately. "There's been a mistake, I just need to go home now."

The cat laughed like he had told the funniest joke ever.

"Please! I didn't mean to bother you guys or chase that- Ummmm, I just, um, I came here by accident and I really-"

The cat suddenly dove at his face, and Kenji couldn't help shrieking as he instinctively shut his eyes and turned his head aside.

The cat had _licked_ him. Which was disgusting under the circumstances, but also, since that tongue was so much bigger and rougher than a normal cat's, it _hurt_. Kenji's left cheek tingled painfully as if he'd scraped a handful of tacks over it. "D-Don't...do that again..."

"Are you coming quietly?" the cat said with relish, "Or do I get to play with you?"

_'What are you, a freaking pedocat?'_ "...Can I at least, like, have someone else arrest me?"

Kenji barely escaped the humiliating fate of being carried off by the collar as if he was a kitten. It was galling to have to walk into captivity of what felt like his own free will, but at least that was better than the alternative. _'Note to self, think twice before jumping in front of oncoming traffic next time...'_

o.o.o

Author's Notes: Fluffy white pedocat was Enishi, of course. (Not literally a pedo, btw; it's just that his cluelessness amuses me.) And Kenji gets rescued just like the heroine in the movie does, I wouldn't leave the poor boy to get married off to a cat princess...

...I'm going to try really, really hard not to let Kenji ever say the full "Flaming pants." *sweatdrop* And this will not be the first time Kingdom Hearts sneaks into this series, nope.

Complete: 2/100


	3. Sunrise

_**Unlost**_**, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl**

Title: Sunrise

Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin

Characters: Enishi & Tomoe

Table: One

Prompt: 003. Sunrise

Word Count: 1,096

Rating: Uhh...PG?

Warning (if applicable): Heavy references to _Kingdom Hearts II_ and/or _Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days_. Discussion of suicide, grief, etc.; whatever you expect from a canonish kind of angsty Enishi/Tomoe fic.

Summary: Enishi is briefly reunited with his sister

Author's Notes: Again, makes more sense if you're familiar with KH2 and/or KH Days. I'm also kind of in a rush to post this because I need to get that stupid AkuShi fic up, so I did a sloppy job with the editing. X(

**ROUGH DRAFT**

Enishi did not notice time passing in the Fallen Village. Sometimes it was bright, sometimes it was dark; sometimes he heard an old man's voice speaking to him, somehow soothing even though he perceived none of the words.

Then...it had been dark, and he was drifting on the edge of sleep, but now...

He sat on a high ledge, overlooking a quiet town, with no sound other than the wind and the call of distant trains. The sun was blazing near the horizon but not too hot, its rays seeming to bathe the wounds that couldn't be seen.

For the first time, it occurred to Enishi to wonder about something. Not very much, but still. This did not seem to fit. "Where...?"

There were soft footsteps behind him. He did not at first think to have any interest in whose they were, and by the time his shoulders suddenly twitched with intuition, she was already sitting down beside him.

"Hello, Enishi."

"Neesan," he whispered, dropping his head down to rest on her shoulder.

Her fingers reached up to trail gently through his hair. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," he managed to whisper, his throat tight. "I missed you _so much_."

"...Even when you looked at me and thought you saw a smile on my face, I missed you," she said meaningfully.

He flinched and turned his face closer, hiding from her eyes as shame engulfed him. "I..."

They were quiet for a long time.

"Did you really love him?" Enishi finally whispered.

"You read the truth."

"How _could_ you?" he burst out, suddenly straightening so he could desperately search her face. "_How_?"

"He made me happy."

He stared. "...How?" How was it possible?

"Enishi," she said softly, "my husband did not take my happiness out of malice or cruelty, and he gave me another to replace what was lost. Until then, I felt as if my soul was dying within me. But with that forgiveness...sharing my pain with him, setting him free in my heart... There is no joy in a life of revenge, Enishi." Her dark eyes held his. "And I think you know that very well."

He had been on the verge of it without noticing, but now he wept for real, feeling how true it was in the deep ache of his tired body. There really had been no joy or peace or happiness all these years, it was all pinned on that point in the future when he could finally bring justice to the Battousai, finally thrust his own pain on his sister's killer and be rid of it.

Yet...that point had come and gone, or at least something as close to it as he would ever accomplish, and still...no peace, no rest anywhere, the wounds in his spirit seeming to bleed afresh...except here, in the sun's warmth and his lost sister's arms. "I want to stay with you," he whispered.

There was a long silence. Then she finally said, "This place exists in perpetual twilight, and you are only here because you have found a path between wakefulness and sleep. Eventually you will be drawn back the way you came - it is not possible for you to stay."

"If I kill myself," he suggested in all seriousness, "can I stay with you?"

"Dear one," she said, very softly, "do you believe that walking such a path would bring you to me?"

"Maybe," he said stubbornly, even as uncertainty whispered in his heart. She gazed at him for such a long time with reproach in her eyes that he finally sighed. "I'll keep living. In this hell the world became once you left it."

He had thought that might please her, but after a long silence, she finally said, "You really are not a man."

"What?"

"A mere shell, who feeds on my memory and does not know what it means to truly live."

"You! I want you! Ever since I lost you, all I've wanted is to have you _back_!"

"As I said," she said tonelessly, no longer touching him or looking at him. "A shell only. Your heart and your soul might as well be dead."

He spoke through gritted teeth. "That was the whole purpose of Jinchuu."

"Which is why it was doomed from the start."

"What...what should I have done, then?"

She sighed. "My love, can you really think of _no_ better way to honor my memory than to cause suffering and destruction to yourself and everyone around you?"

"..."

"Just," she prompted, "as one example, it would please me very much to see you give a flower to a little girl."

"...You want me to give flowers to girls?"

"Or help a farmer finish his harvest in time. Or protect a maiden's virtue from the ruffians our region seems to have such an abundance of. Or feed a stray dog." She rested her palm affectionately against his forehead, and he closed his eyes at her touch. "Use your imagination."

"...I can't do that kind of stuff."

"Why not?"

"I don't know how."

"Enishi. You've never tried."

"...I don't _want_ to do any of that stuff."

"..._I_ want you to."

He ground his teeth together. "Okay. I'll try."

He was startled when she kissed his cheek. "Thank you, my love." Then she held out to him what looked like a block of blue ice on a stick.

"What's that?"

"Something the children here like to eat. I think you'll like it, too." She raised a second one to her mouth and gave it a delicate lick.

Enishi stared at his own ice, then cautiously touched his tongue to it. "Ohhhh..." He bit into it more enthusiastically, his mouth filling with the sweet taste of sea-salt. "This is _good_!"

"Yes."

"I like it."

"I knew you would."

It felt incredibly strange, taking such pleasure from something so innocent and simple. Enishi actually couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to enjoy something like this. "Hey, Neesan?"

"Hm?"

"Even if I can't stay with you...can I come back sometimes and sit with you like this again? Eating this sea-salt stuff and watching the sunrise together..."

She glanced at him in mild surprise. "Sunrise?"

"Yeah." It was kind of a weird one, though. The sun hadn't moved in all this time, just kept resting comfortably on the horizon.

"I suppose it does look like a sunrise, doesn't it," Tomoe said thoughtfully. "Depending on your perspective."

Once more, Enishi saw his sister smile.

o.o.o

Author's Notes: Yeeaaahhh, I told you Kingdom Hearts would keep showing up in this series. *sweatdrop* I can't help it, it's still my current obsession...

**KH stuff you need to know for this story to make more sense:** Twilight Town is a world that exists on the margin between the Realm of Light (normal Disney worlds where people are generally nice) and the Realm of Darkness (a black wasteland overrun by the darkness from people's hearts). It is a sleepy town lit by a **perpetual sunset**, where people seem to use trains as their main mode of transportation. The train station includes a clock tower, at the top of which several important characters often sit to enjoy **sea-salt ice cream** and bond together as friends.

With these challenge series, I often go with the first image I get when I look at the prompt. In this case, Tomoe and Enishi lying in each other's arms while watching a sunrise. o.O Which for some reason made me think of Roxas & Axel's farewell scene in _Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix_, and thus was this drabble born...

Lolol, if I could draw, I would _so_ make fanart of Enishi giving a flower to a dubious-looking Xion, or feeding Chi behind Sai's back when Saïx is busy with mission prep work in Twilight Town. XD

Complete: 3/100


	4. Late

_**Unlost**_**, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl**

Title: Late  
Characters: Tomoe, Kenshin, Enishi, Kenji, Raberba girl, & some throwaway OCs  
Table: One  
Prompt: 004. Late  
Word Count: 1,588  
Rating: Ummm...T to be safe?

Warning: Blatant clichés and fourth-wall breakage; probably OOCness, I'm too tired to care right now; you could possibly read it as Enishi being an unintentional perv; clumsily-censored bad language; I dunno, probably more, this one's dumb. -.-;;;

Summary: Tomoe is Late for School.

Author's Notes: Modern AU. I guess. Blargh, I am overstressed.

**ROUGH DRAFT**

Tomoe realized what sort of fic she was waking up into when she rolled over in bed and noticed that it was fifteen minutes before class started. "You turned off my alarm clock," she accused Raberba girl in a monotone.

"Of course I didn't!" R. girl protested in dramatic indignation.

The alarm clock chose that exact moment to start ringing.

"I just reset the wakeup time," R. girl added smugly.

Tomoe gave a deep sigh. "Really? Really, are we really doing this?"

"You better hurry, Tomoe-chan, don't wanna be late for school~!" R. girl sang before skipping back to her side of the fourth wall.

"...Ugh." Trudging out of bed, Tomoe moved around her room, ignoring the mess R. girl had made of it and digging through her closet in hopes of finding a clean school uniform still on the hanger. Yesterday's uniform was strewn invitingly across the floor, but she refused to wear it, having resolved to give in to this silliness as little as possible. Which also meant combing out her long black hair and binding it up into a quick bun - otherwise, it was probably going to stream out behind her like a _shoujo_-bubble-infested banner, and she'd rather not hit strangers in the face with it.

"Tomoe-chan!" her throwaway OC mother exclaimed when she came down into the kitchen. "Oh, sweetie, did you sleep in? I thought you were supposed to have left already!"

"I'll be all right," Tomoe said placidly. "Are you the sort of mother who cooks complete breakfasts such as appear in cereal commercials, or the kind that raises her children on Pop-Tarts and soda?"

"Um...I'm not sure," her 'mother' confessed sheepishly. "I'm just a throwaway OC. I think you're supposed to refuse my offer of breakfast altogether and dash out the door with a slice of toast in your mouth."

"..."

"Raberba girl," Tomoe's 'mother' whimpered, quailing under the dark gaze Tomoe was now fixing her with, "she's not going to put the toast in her mouth."

_"Dang it,"_ a disembodied voice echoed from somewhere above. _"Emergency plans activate! Throwaway OC Dad, I choose you!"_

"I'm leaving now," Tomoe said flatly.

Chipper, bright-sunshiney-morning background music began to play as Tomoe grudgingly jogged down the street with her book bag strap flying. She kept passing other teenagers her age who were also wearing school uniforms, all ambling along at sedate paces and chatting amiably even though they were presumably just as late as her. _'Why am _I_ the only one who has to be running like an irresponsible fool?'_ she thought resentfully.

To top it all off, her hair was coming unraveled so that it began to stream out behind her like a _shoujo_-bubble-infested banner. She winced as it hit someone in the face. "Please pardon me," she called over her shoulder, unable to stop running because that's what was in the script.

"Any time, baby," the boy called back happily.

_'Ugh.'_ She considered doing a countdown as she approached a corner, the plot point was so inevitable and obvious. _'The options are rather limited, considering the series topic. Kenshin just wouldn't fit the personality type, and Kenji-kun's age makes the prospect rather odd and unpleasant. Perhaps it'll be one of the other characters from canon, Sagara-san maybe, since I've been shipped with him before. Or perhaps someone from those video games she won't shut up about. I really hope she doesn't pair me up with Enishi, because not-actually-related-AU or not, that would be disgusting-'_

Bam!

She crashed into someone, just as she had expected. The actual person was one of the last ones she had expected. "At least you're not my brother," she remarked.

"Oro?" Kenshin groaned, rubbing his injured head.

"You really were miscast, weren't you."

"R. girl-dono tends to do that a lot, that she does," Kenshin agreed, helping her up. "Are you all right?"

"I believe I'm supposed to rant and rage at you right now about how stupid and inconsiderate you are."

"Ah. Sorry," he said humbly.

She couldn't help smiling a little. "And you're supposed to laugh jeeringly about how clumsy and unattractive I am."

"Oro! Really?"

On impulse, she moved forward and touched a little kiss to his cheek. "You don't have to. She's irritating me right now."

"Oh. Ummmm..." He surveyed her uniform. "If you're heading to the high school that's down that way, would you like this one to walk there with you?"

"I would, actually."

Thus it was that, instead of acting like a jerk and sauntering off as she yelled defensive insults at him to properly conclude the scripted Crash into Hello start of their romance, Kenshin simply smiled. Tomoe took his hand, and they continued on to school, despite the fact that the tardy bell could be heard ringing in the distance. Multiple times, with an increasingly frustrated tone. While the other presumably late high school students continued on their way as leisurely as if they had all the time in the world to get to class.

"I think the editing departments for these kinds of stories need more detail-oriented staff," Tomoe mused.

Once on campus, she ignored the attendance office (no one was manning it, anyway, despite the fact that a real school would have had a long line of students waiting to be given tardy slips) and went straight to homeroom. Which she did _not_ burst into with flying hair and heaving breast and frantic apology-babble in a cloud of _shoujo_ bubbles, since that would have been unduly disruptive.

"...so remember to have them signed by your parent-slash-guardian asap," her teacher was telling the class, "because if you don't, then you'll be hauled into the office, and YOU ARE LATE-" He whirled to face her, face alight with malicious glee as he gripped a ruler in one fist, then came to an abrupt stop when he actually saw who she was.

"She made you my _teacher_?" Tomoe exclaimed in dismay.

"Neesan!" Yukishiro-sensei bounded across the room, seized her in his arms, and snuggled his cheek against her hair. "You're in my class~!"

"...Lovely," she grumbled.

"Let's eat lunch together!"

"Wha- Now?" She gestured at the clock. "It's barely even eight in the morning!"

Without looking, Yukishiro-sensei hurled the ruler so hard that it shattered the clock face and sent the hour hand skittering to the floor, leaving the minute hand dangling lifelessly over the number 6. "Ah, don't pay attention to that unreliable thing."

He seized her hand and happily dragged her out of the classroom and then the building altogether, until they were back behind the school gym.

"I think," she said very dryly, "that it is difficult to eat 'lunch' without any food." The current setting was also now making her uneasy.

"Hmmm..." Yukishiro-sensei reached into Hammerspace and produced two bento boxes.

"Did you really have to resort to that?"

"Why not? I never got to use it in canon!" He started to step toward her, but then tripped over a conveniently-placed rock. The boxed lunches went flying, Tomoe fell against the gym wall with a small, startled cry, and her brother/teacher managed to slam both fists against the wall on either side of her head to stop himself from crushing her.

"Enishi-"

"Mmm, you smell yummy," he said, dipping his face a little closer to her neck.

"Hey, you!" shouted a voice.

Tomoe sighed deeply as Yukishiro-sensei's head came up again, his expression and body language perked with interest as if he was a dog that had just scented prey.

"Get your filthy hands off her, you pervy excuse for a teacher!"

"Oooh, Junior wants to play," Yukishiro-sensei laughed, eyes gleaming.

Tomoe looked over at Kenji. The teenager stood at the corner of the gym in a blaze of bishounen glory, clearly prepared to make the most of his role as last-minute hero and rival love interest. "Kenji-kun, _please_ don't get involved, it is already hard enough trying to wade through the clichés - I don't need you playing along with them on top of everything else."

"No way! Not counting the first two drabbles, she hasn't written me in anything since _Hatchling_, I've been freaking bored out of my mind!"

"Don't be silly, there was the story where Enishi injured his leg trying to rescue you-"

"NO!" they both shouted at the same time. "I like being a teenager," Kenji insisted, as Yukishiro-sensei snarled, "_I would never fall off a ***ing cliff_, that setup was LAME."

"Oh, look," Kenji laughed, "you got censored."

"Well," Tomoe said, "if you're not going to 'rescue' me from what you assume to be sexual harassment, I suppose I'll leave you two to enjoy yourselves while I find a way to pass the time until this story is over."

"Have at you, perv!" Kenji challenged Yukishiro-sensei, assuming an attack stance with his wooden kendo club weapon.

"My pleasure, brat," Yukishiro-sensei snarled eagerly, extracting a full-fledged katana from the same place he'd gotten the bento.

"Hey! You can't use that kind of sword on school grounds, that's cheating!"

Leaving them to it, Tomoe went back to class and found Kenshin standing awkwardly at the head of the room, being plied by questions from her curious classmates. "What a remarkable coincidence to run into you again," she said dryly.

He smiled at her in relief. "Hi, Tomoe."

"Hello, love. I suppose you're a transfer student."

"This one _thinks_ so, yes."

"How about we 'transfer' out of this fanfiction and find something better to do."

"This one has no objection to such a proposal," Kenshin chuckled. "On the count of three?"

She took his hand. "One...two...three."

o.o.o

Author's Notes: XD XD XD orz I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote this...it's so stupid, yet it makes me laugh. -.-;;;;; It was inspired by the common anime image of schoolgirls hurtling down the street with toast dangling from their mouths because they're running late.

By the way, I'm really sorry for the lack of updates on this series... The first KH story I posted without an RK accompaniment was a matter of great personal importance to me, and the other two had deadlines. Still, I'll try to make up for them in the future with three extra drabbles if I can, but no promises. :/ There are probably going to be a whoooooole lot of KH fics I'll write this summer that need to be posted on particular days...

Complete: 4/100


	5. Prompt 84

_**Unlost**_**, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl**

Title: Already Taken Care Of  
Characters: Kenshin, Kenji, Kaoru, and reference to Enishi  
Table: One  
Prompt: 084. Sex  
Word Count: 607  
Rating: T?

Warning: Awkwardness, maybe. Teen being disrespectful brat to parent, heh. That should be it.  
Summary: Kenshin should have done this a long time ago.  
Author's Notes: Modern AU.

ROUGH DRAFT

"Kenshin, have you done it yet?"

"Done what?" Kenshin asked innocently.

His wife, standing in the doorway of the laundry room, crossed her arms in an ominous manner. "The thing I've been asking you to do for weeks now."

"Ummm...fixed the lawnmower?" Kenshin tried, cautiously continuing to sort the clothes into piles of lights and darks.

"_No_. Have you talked to Kenji?"

It was nice when she made it easy. "Of course," Kenshin said confidently. He set the empty basket aside and began scooping socks and underwear into the washing machine.

Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "I meant have you had _The Talk_ with him."

Dang it. "...Wow, we sure are running low on detergent, de-gozaru!"

She marched inside a few steps and banged the lid of the washing machine down, pointing sternly with her other finger. "Go. And the next time I see you, this had better be taken care of if you want any more personal experience of what you're supposed to be telling him about!"

"Ororo..." Reluctantly, he slunk past her and then faced the back hallway as if it was a gauntlet of doom. "This one doesn't even know how to bring up the subject, that is..."

Kenji was sprawled half across his bed and half across his desk chair, somehow managing to talk on the phone, surf through an online video archive, make his way through a video game, and work on math homework on the same time. ...Well, the homework seemed to be getting the short end of the stick, but nevertheless, it was an impressive feat of multi-tasking.

"...Hello, Kenji," Kenshin greeted unhappily.

Not even a flicker of response. "No _way_, that's the lamest band ever!" Kenji was exclaiming into the phone. "Melodious Nocturne totally owns them!"

"I'm standing in your room, by the way," Kenshin remarked.

"GAAAHHH, stupid Fat Bandit! ...What? No, sorry, I was talking to the game."

Come to think of it, this situation was advantageous to procrastination. Kenshin perched on the non-Kenji-occupied half of the chair and curiously clicked on a video of kittens.

"Hey, don't touch my computer!" Kenji yelled.

"Not touching it," Kenshin pointed out cheerfully (and truthfully, since the video was already playing).

Kenji looked at him for a minute, then finally gave a dramatic sigh and said into the phone, "Hey, gotta go, my dad's getting on my case again." He hung up and paused the game. "What do you want?" he asked in annoyance.

"At the moment, to see if that gray one is going to fall off the side of the box," Kenshin murmured.

Kenji paused the video, too. "Can you get it over with so you can get out of my room again?"

Kenshin gave a very deep sigh. "Ahem. Kenji." There was a long pause.

"Yeah?" Kenji prompted impatiently.

"So...when a man and a woman love each other very much..."

Kenji stared. "Huh?"

"Um...birds and bees...you know...?"

"...You can't be serious."

"See, what they say about storks, ummm, it's not exactly true, since that's not where-"

"Dad," Kenji interrupted, "if this is your pathetic attempt to give me the Sex Talk, you can forget it. Uncle Enishi already took care of that ages ago."

Kenshin stared. "_Yukishiro Enishi_ told you where babies come from?"

"Yup. And lots of other stuff, too."

Kenshin abruptly stood up, snapped off the computer monitor, and moved to do the same with the TV.

"Hey!" Kenji yelled, "You can't-!"

"Sit up," his father ordered in a voice of steel. "You and this one are going to have a talk, that we are."

Kenji gulped and scrambled to straighten up. "Y-Yes, sir."

o.o.o

Author's Notes: KH reference was totally unnecessary, but I stuck it in there anyway because obsessed fangirl ftw...

Complete: 5/100


	6. Cheat

_**Unlost**_**, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl**

Title: Cheat  
Characters: Tomoe, Enishi, Kenshin, Kenji, various others in tiny roles  
Table: One  
Prompt: Cheat  
Word Count: 1,285  
Rating: PG  
Warning: Ponies, lol.

Summary: During a festival in Ponyville, Tiger Eyes challenges Swordheart to a competition. This might be just what White Plum needs for her next report on the power of friendship. ...Or not.

Author's Notes: Um...this is what I get for trying to brainstorm RuroKen stories so soon after watching episode 13 of _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_. XD This story will probably make more sense if you have even a passing familiarity with that show. Which I'm not really a fan of, btw, it's just super-fun to reference.

**ROUGH DRAFT**

Everyone's hard work had definitely paid off - the town looked beautiful today for the festival.

White Plum moved at a serene pace through the decked-out streets, making observations with quiet admiration. _'Fox Ears did a wonderful job on the clinic, very fitting. Evil Fishbones's place is less of a mess than usual, I guess he really did attempt to clean up. The dojo looks nicer than usual, too; I imagine Strongsilk really put Swordheart to work. Ah, that's quite a lovely idea for the restaurant, I bet Butterfly Sweet suggested that.'_ A quiet chuckle. _'Not that she'll ever willingly admit it.'_

Then she sighed a little. It might be a holiday for most of Ponyville, but she herself had work to do. _'I still need a topic for my next report. You would think a festival would be a good setting, right? So many friends out enjoying the holiday together, surely someone should be learning a valuable life lesson today...'_

The harsh tone of her brother's voice up ahead immediately caught her attention. "...and that's why you're a _total loser_, hah!"

Swordheart's reply was characteristically mild. "This one is stallion enough to not feel at all inadequate due to the color of his hide. He does, however, readily admit that his natural colors are not the most visually appealing."

"And we're not _pink_, anyway," Li'l Swordpath piped up indignantly. "We're _magenta_, stupid."

White Plum trotted into the square, where Tiger Eyes was belligerently facing down the two magenta pegasi by a nervous-looking shop owner's tangerine stall. White Plum didn't blame him for looking nervous - her brother and his archrival were infamous for the destruction that usually followed in the wake of their clashes.

"Tiger Eyes," she called firmly.

He whirled to face her, eyes suddenly alight. "Neesan!"

"Tiger Eyes," she repeated as she trotted up, "if you ruin the festival for everypony today, I will _not be happy with you_."

He seemed to visibly wilt. "Aw, Sis..."

"Hey!" Li'l Swordpath yelled. "Go away! I don't wanna be helped by a _mare_!"

"Swordpath," his father warned, and Tiger Eyes's namesake blazed. "_You got a problem with my sister, runt_?"

Li'l Swordpath reared up with a wordless shriek of rage. In a resigned, practiced sort of way, White Plum and Swordheart got in front of their respective relatives and started herding them away from each other.

"This isn't over yet, Swordlosers!" Tiger Eyes yelled. "Sis, get out of the way!"

"Come on, let's go fine you some ice cream," she said soothingly.

"No! I wanna beat them!"

"Dad!" Li'l Swordpath was yelling on the other side, "Cut it out, wait, _wait_, ARGH YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME!"

Swordheart paused. "What is it you would like to tell this one, Swordpath?" he asked patiently.

"Let's have, like, a contest! So we can beat Tiger Poop without getting kicked out of the festival or making Mom mad."

"Hm," Swordheart said thoughtfully.

"I'll take you _down_," Tiger Eyes declared with glee.

"What sort of contest?" White Plum inquired.

"Uh...I dunno. Something. Doesn't matter what it is, we'll beat him!"

"That's my line," Tiger Eyes snarled.

"_This one_ will be the one competing, that he will," Swordheart corrected firmly, giving his son a look.

"But-!"

"This one will not pit his unready colt against a full-grown stallion."

"I can take him!"

"Li'l Swordpath," White Plum said sweetly, "if you compete against my brother, you won't be able to do the commentary."

He paused. "Oh yeah. Mayor Dragonmaster said I could do it this year." Then he frowned. "And don't call me that! I'm not little!"

When word spread that Swordheart and Tiger Eyes were about to go head-to-head in an allegedly non-destructive competition, half the town gathered interestedly to watch.

"Welcome," Li'l Swordpath boomed from above, circling in the air as he spoke into a megaphone. "Welcome, all fillies and gentlecolts, to watch my dad actually being cool long enough to pwn Tiger Poop again!" Then he winced, practically _sensing_ the mayor's warning glare.

"If you're incapable of being objective," Mayor Dragonmaster rumbled, "you can forfeit your post right now and save me the trouble of having to fire you."

"I can do it right," Li'l Swordpath said defensively. He took a deep breath. "Fillies and gentlecolts! Welcome to the Iron Pony Competition, where you shall witness pwnage beyond your wildest imaginations!"

Glare.

"You said I had to be objective," Li'l Swordpath argued. "You never said I couldn't use slang."

"Whatever. It's not like I actually care about this pointless contest," Mayor Dragonmaster grumbled, heading back toward the sake trough.

"All right, then! Our contestants are Swordheart, who's not gonna be a wimp today, because you're my dad and everyone's watching so you'd better not embarrass me, and it's supposed to be a bloodless competition so you're out of whiny excuses, hah. And second we've got Tiger...Eyes. Not Poop, because I'm objective. First round, barrel weaving!"

As the contests went on, Swordheart and Tiger Eyes seemed to be fairly evenly matched, playing to their strengths. The magenta pegasus was light and swift, and tended to do better at the tasks that involved racing. He was also careful to keep his wings curbed so as to not have an unfair advantage over the other pony. Tiger Eyes, though nowhere near the mass of somepony like Mayor Dragonmaster, was nevertheless more well-built than Swordheart and tended to beat him at feats of strength.

Their scores were even when it came down to the last round, leaf sweeping. "All right, fillies and gentlecolts, it all comes to a head _right now_! In our final contest, Dad and The Other Guy will be getting a head start on the winter prep so that the rest of us won't have to work so hard after the festival! Nice one, whoever planned this contest!" The goal was to strip as many trees as possible of their autumn leaves so as to prepare for winter.

"I totally got this," Tiger Eyes declared, his eyes gleaming.

"We shall see, that we will," Swordheart said mildly.

"On your mark - get set - GO!"

The two ponies took off, racing through the trees and sending leaves cascading to the ground in their wake. Oddly enough, though Swordheart had consistently showed an advantage in this area over his rival, he now seemed to be dropping farther and farther behind.

"I _told_ you I got this!" Tiger Eyes crowed triumphantly. "Eat my dust, loser!"

He was not, however, so cocky by the time he reached the end. Panting and exhausted, Tiger Eyes staggered toward the finish line, and was completely outraged when Swordheart came cantering past him, claiming victory with infuriating ease.

"NOOOO! You CHEATED!"

"This one paced himself, that he did," Swordheart explained as his wife set a medal around his neck.

"CHEATER! ROTTEN CHEATER!" Exhaustion forgotten, Tiger Eyes flung himself at Swordheart, and the two were suddenly wreaking just as much havoc on the contest grounds as they usually did in their town-destroying fights.

White Plum sighed quietly and began to mentally draft a letter. _"Dear Princess Katsura. Today I learned that no matter how friendly the competition and how good a sport the rival can be, my brother will still fly off the handle and cause trouble. The friendship between myself and my brother is so great that I will _not_ beat him to death with a frying pan after he loses to Swordheart, no matter how much he deserves it."_ Then she chuckled ruefully. "I can't actually send a letter like that, can I. Oh well." She trotted over to try to help the other ponies break up the fight, and resolved to look for a better friendship lesson elsewhere.

o.o.o

Cast list:

White Plum - Tomoe

Fox Ears - Megumi

Evil Fishbones - Sanosuke

Strongsilk - Kaoru

Swordheart - Kenshin

Butterfly Sweet - Tsubame

Li'l Swordpath - Kenji

Tiger Eyes - Enishi

Mayor Dragonmaster - Hiko

Complete: 6/100


End file.
